Florence, Italy

     What can be said about Florence, its great and its a nightmare all at once. It's thoroughly obvious that this city has the been the crossroads of Italian culture for centuries. The city was founded by Caesar in 59 B.C. as a retirement place for his soldiers and has been thriving ever since. The Middle Ages saw the rise of the infamous Medici family. They left an irrefutable mark on the city with all the buildings built for the family and all of the art work they had commissioned by the greats of the Renaissance. There are amazing buildings everywhere you look and, unfortunately, tons of tourists standing around taking pictures of them. I guess we are as guilty as they but we can pretend we're not. Right? We checked into our hotel and set off for a great view of the city.

     The first building we came across was the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. The building dates back to the 13th century and took around 100 years to complete. Credit for the design is given to two friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. Unfortunately, the inside was closed so we decided to take a walk along the river and make our way for the Piazza Michelangelo. Of course, looking at the map, we had no idea that the Piazza was high up on a hill. The hike wasn't too bad and the view at the top was great.

     Along our walk, we were struck by a long line of classic looking cars that kept stopping in the street. There was a guy dressed like an policeman from earlier in the 20th century and the cars would stop and people would give him some kind of gift before continuing on. We watched the spectacle for a bit but the cop eventually collected his prizes and walked off. Further down, we crossed the Arno River on the Vecchio Bridge. The bridge is an old stone bridge with tons of shops built into it. They were originally used by butchers but the modern shops are all jewelers and artisan stores, although those are rare. The bridge dates to the mid 14th century as the previous two were swept away by floods. We walked across the bridge and tried not to bump into all of the tourists everywhere. We passed a monument dedicated to Galileo Galilei that sits at the base of the hill up to the Piazza. From the top, we were able to get a good view of the city and the surrounding area but, unfortunately, the cloudy, rainy weather did not want to cooperate with us.

     After visiting the Piazza, we headed back down the hill and across the river to the famous Santa Croce Basilica. It is the largest Franciscan Church in the world, has 16 chapels with tons of fresco paintings, and is even rumored to have been built by St. Francis. It, like everything else we would soon learn, cost a lot to get into. When I say a lot, I don't mean 15 euros or anything like that but seven to eight euros a go and tons of places to see adds up quickly. We purchased our ticket and walked through the church. The first thing that is striking about the church is how white it is and the dark wooden ceilings. The tombs of many famous people like Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo(pictured above) are found in the Basilica. 

     We ended our first day of walking with a stroll around the main square, Piazza del Signore, and an attempt to visit the Uffizi Art Museum. We had to wait in line for quite a while, 45 minutes, just to get to the ticket counter. We met a nice young couple who had decided to honeymoon in Italy. I know it sounds romantic to take a honeymoon to Italy but the idea of standing in tons of lines for long waits and being constantly surrounded by tons of tourists and places that are losing their charm doesn't sound fun to us. The girl seemed to be going along with the idea because he wanted to see all the buildings he studied in school.

     Our second day in Florence, we went for some long walks. We headed up to the Accademia to see the famous statue of David. The museum is small and full of boring old paintings. It was established in 1563 and has seen many of the famous names of the Italian art scene throughout the years. They are strict about not allowing people to take pictures in the museum. Of course, tons of tourists think they can get away with being sly and taking phone pics but they never escaped the view of the two guards watching the statue. From there, we headed back to the Piazza del Duomo. The Cathedral was the only building that offered a free tour. The inside was dark and cold. There were paintings all around the walls and the painting of the dome is amazing. To get up to it costs eight euros. The cathedral was finished in 1436 after the church officials commissioned a new church to be built on the site. The dome is the biggest octagonal dome without support structures. The outside is a beautiful green and marble color scheme and could use a deep cleaning. After the duomo, we tried out one of the Medici houses. The insides are ornate and very ostentatious with lots of ceilings paintings and gold trim painting like you see below.

     We spent the rest of the day waiting in line to get into the Uffizi. We've heard its one of the most popular art galleries in Western Europe. It was built in the 16th century and has, like most things in Florence, ties to the Medici family. It was built for Cosmo Medici as a place for court magistrates. The building makes a U shape and is lined with art galleries featuring work by most of the major Renaissance painters. One of the oddest things was how they had some of the museum's at another gallery and wanted to offer a discount to see them with your Uffizi ticket. So you have to pay double to see those pieces. They better be good. We finished our night with a pizza and caught a train the next morning to Rome. From Rome, we flew back to Madrid and thus ended our Christmas vacation.

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Bologna, Italy

     We stopped in Bologna on the recommendation of a good friend of ours. He had been and really enjoyed it so we thought we'd give it a go. We stopped for two days and, at times, that seemed like too much time. Bologna can be seen in a good solid day and we half wished we could have rented a car to drive around the countryside for the second one. We had a short trip from Venice and found our hotel without much of a problem. This one was much nicer than the previous one in Venice. The hallways didn't smell and there was internet for a reasonable price. 

     We took a walk around the ring road around the city to stretch our legs and check out all of the piazzas. Some were dedicated to war soldiers and others to famous people from the city. It struck me as interesting that we were standing here staring a war memorials in a country that lost one of the most decisive wars of the 20th century. The city's sidewalks were unusual in that they were all covered sidewalks under the buildings second floor. This made it nearly impossible to look at the buildings as we walked. Most of the buildings had a red clayish color.

     Bologna is full of churches. The first one we visited was the Basilica of San Stefano. It dates back to the 8th century and has a white, light feel inside. It is a round building with white walls and dark wood inside. Later we visited the San Petronio Basilica, the most famous church in Bologna. It is located on the main square, Piazza Maggiore, and has a lot of construction going on to get it ready for a big anniversary. The first stone was laid in 1390 so a cleaning is due. Inside is a meridian line with astrological symbols and some sculptures by the great Donatello. An old man who worked there was quite insistent that I remove my hat for some reason. I saw plenty of people walking around wearing hats in the church. The church is large and open on the inside and is decorated with lavish paintings.

    In the northern part of the city is a park and some really fancy steps. It was the first thing we saw and we walked around to it to take some pictures. The park at the top seemed a little seedy and I'm pretty sure we saw some drug deals going down. 

     Bologna is famous for the two towers in the picture above. They are but a small fraction of the possible 180 towers that existed in the city before the 12th century. Their purpose isn't clear but historians agree that most of the towers were demolished in the 13th century. These two still remain and are unanimously considered to be the symbols of the city. Both are leaning and date back to the early 12th century. Over the years, the towers have been prisons, seen lightning strikes that have caused fire and collapsing, and scientists conducting experiments on the rotation of the earth.

     The other part of the city we had to visit was the area with the university. Built in 1088, it is the oldest university in Europe and the oldest operating university in the world. Most of the buildings are old on the outside but have all the signs of modern student life. There were tons of posters for concerts, roommates needed, furniture for sale, language lessons for new arrivals needing to learn some Italian, etc. It was great and I can't imagine how awesome it would be to attend classes in buildings that have been around almost a millennium. 

     Foodwise, Bologna is famous for its cuisine. It is the gastronomic capital of Italy. The first day we had some pizza for dinner and did some searching for a good restaurant. On the second day, we had some wonderful pizza and the people who sold it to us showed us how much better it is to buy two slices and fold them together to eat. We found a wonderful little restaurant with Michelin stars on the door called Teresina. We each had some great pasta starters and a beef main course with parmesan mashed potatoes. The decor was a bunch of imitation pieces of impressionist art and created a great ambiance. From Bologna, we caught the train one stop to Florence.

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Venice, Italy - Day 2

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Venice, Italy - Day 1

     Arriving to Venice is wonderful. Almost enough to make us forget about the previous night. We were on a night train to Belgrade and had to get off in southeastern Austria at a town called Villach. We waited there for an hour in sub freezing temperatures for a two decker bus to Venice. We slept most of the way as the bus wound through the mountains of northern Italy. We had to cross the long bridge that connects Venice to the mainland and the view is breathtaking. There were boats everywhere and planes landing at nearby Marco Polo airport.

     We took a walk around the train station area because we had two hours to kill until we could check in to the hotel. The streets are a labyrinth so we had to be careful of the places we visited. We saw lots of families piling into the gondolas for rides with the local gondoliers. A few of them tried to play Iz for a ride but they obviously didn't realize who they were talking to. We were more caught up in walking around a city that dates back to the early 5th century and was built on piles of wood that have petrified because of constantly being in water. The city only began to sink in the 20th century when wells were dug to provide water for the city. It was soon discovered that pulling water from the aquifer was causing the sinking so they stopped.

     After checking into our hotel, we had a more thorough wander through the streets. The water everywhere was blue. The fun of walking through Venice is that you never know where the next turn will lead. What is really nice is when there is a sidewalk that runs down a side of some buildings so you can walk and take in the views. 

     Our first major landmark to cross was the Rialto Bridge. The bridge is loaded with jewelry and souvenir shops. The first version was built in 1181 and the final stone bridge was built in 1591 and is one of the major tourist spots of the city. It is also the middle point of most of the water taxi services as it connects the train station with San Marco Square. The markets became an important part of the Venetian trade life. Most people around the bridge are elbowing and pushing to get a picture of themselves with Venice in the background.

     Thank god there are signs on the buildings in Venice directing tourists to the major spots. Most signs point to the Rialto Bridge and to the Piazza San Marco. One thing you notice quickly in Venice is the lack of bicycles but if they were allowed, it just wouldn't work at all. The streets everywhere are narrow and they are lined with tons of different shops. We stopped along the way and had some pizza for lunch. The streets that surround San Marco are full of high end tourist trap shops and tons of different restaurants. The square itself is amazing. The square is home to the Cathedral of San Marco, which is a gawdy monstrosity of a cathedral. The domes are high and the portals are decorated with ornate paintings and tons of gold leaf. The inside is almost all gold and there were lots of risers as the city had been experiencing flooding a few weeks before we arrived. Across from the church is the Campanile of San Marco, a tower built in 1156, restored in 1514 and eventually rebuilt in the early 20th century. The other part that is quite nice is the clocktower and its brilliant purple/blue colors in the sunlight.

     Being in the square was incredible and you could feel the history of the place. The amount of tourists was amazing as well. Along the seafront, there are tons of more important buildings, a view of some of the smaller islands south of the city but still part of it. It's also a hot spot of gondoliers and water taxis. As we hadn't slept much the night before and the sun was starting to set, we decided to find a restaurant, have some dinner, and call it a night. The restaurant we chose was terrible, the service was worse, and we ended the night discovering that our hotel had some of the worst smells in the hallways ever.

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